Turkey is the most un-reached country in the world. It is 99.8% Muslim and that number is supposedly growing. You cannot walk outside without encountering at least a few mosques. Five times a day, the entire city echoes with the call to prayer. I have never been in a place that seemed so “God-less”. And all this in the place where the early church was first finding its feet. The first missionaries came from this place. It is amazing how much has changed. Despite all of the discouraging signs, I go back to a moment that happened to us when we arrived in Turkey for the first time, way back in October. I mentioned in a previous blog our rather eventful bus ride from Montenegro to Istanbul which saw us arrive in the city on a random street corner at 4am. We all piled out with our packs not knowing anyone or anything and as we looked around to try to get our bearings, we noticed on a totally random light pole, the word “TRUST” scrawled into the pole. God knows how hopeless things can seem, and He knew that in that moment, tired, disoriented, and a little frightened, we just needed a little reminder. In the month and a week or so that I spent in the city, I spoke to a LOT of people and I would estimate maybe around 5% of the population speaks good enough English to know the word trust, and who would write that on a street pole? My only conclusion is that, despite what the numbers say, God is in Turkey, and He is working. I found Him literally in my first five minutes in the country, and that was only the beginning of what He did in Turkey while I was there to witness it. So, reader, if you are in the United States, or Egypt, or Nicaragua (you know who you are), Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, or Kenya, here’s a little reminder. He is alive and He is working, no matter how big the “statistics” are saying that He isn’t.
We are about to head into Africa which will I’m sure assault me with a feeling of hopelessness for different reasons, but I just have to remember that street pole. TRUST. Even when less than 1% of a population believes in Jesus, He is still there. Even when most of a population lives on less than two dollars a day, He is there. Even in a country with over a million children orphaned from AIDS, He is there. One of the beatiful things I’ve been learning about God on this trip is that we are not bringing Him anywhere, He is already there, we just get to join Him in what He is already doing. Tenth Avenue North has a great song that I think of a lot recently. It goes like this:
Love is HERE
Love is NOW
Love is pouring from His hands from His brow
Love is NEAR
It satisfies
Streams of mercy flowing from His side
Love is here
Thank you for your prayers and support
Adam
Istanbul by night
Hagia Sofia – one of the medieval wonders of the world
Inside the Blue Mosque
The Blue Mosque by night
